Sweat, Quirks, & Fears

vi. Dadzawa 101

Classes was over, people were relieved, and Katsuki was pissed.

"OI, I'M NOT SHOWING UP HOME WITHOUT YOU JUST FOR MOM TO YELL AT ME MORE THAN NECESSARY!"

"Then wait, why don't you?"

Rei was not in the mood for his attitude, as she was nervous to meet with her homeroom teacher after school hours. What could he possibly want to speak with her about?

"OI, I AM NOT GOING TO JUST STAND HERE ALL DAY AND WAIT FOR YOU—!"

"Hey, Bakugo! Hey, Rei!"

The blondes turned to see their classmate Kaminari waving at them, the red-head from their class right by his side.

"Hey, Denki and Kirishima!"

The boy, and also the two girls they were with, had insisted for her to call them by their first names when they had joined everyone else after the mock battle.

"How come you're still indoors?"

"Aizawa Sensei asked to speak to me after school, and Kat is being an ass"

"We can take him off your hands," offered red spikey boi.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"OI, I NEVER AGREED TO THIS—!"

"Totally!"

"Anything for the Class A ninja," chuckled the purest and dorkiest ball of electric sunshine.

"Thanks you guys so much! I owe you one. Denki, I'll text you when I'm done. Kat, be a good boy for the time being," she joked. "I'll see you in a bit!"

Rei walked as fast as she could without getting yelled at by Iida or someone as respectful and orderly like him.

She turned into the hallway where the classroom was located when she almost bumped into someone.

"I am so sorry, I almost didn't see you!"

The boy she ran into had concerning eye bags and stylish purple hair, and was taller than her by a few inches.

"It's alright. I should've been more careful, anyways, since I was just on my phone. I'm Shinso Hitoshi."

"I'm Bakugo Rei," smiled the girl. "I like the pin on your backpack!"

"Thanks, I—" the boy remembered what the pin was and slightly blushed. She was the first to actually comment directly to him about the pride flag he had on his book bag. "I got it at last year's parade. I actually collected several different flags. I initially got them for any friends I made who had those flags. I haven't met anyone yet, though..."

"Oh, well, not that I want a pride flag, but how about we become friends?"

The boy smiled, and the girl could tell right away he might not have done much of that recently. His hand reached into a small pocket of his backpack and he fumbled around.

"Pick your pin," he finally stopped and displayed several pride flags on the palm of his hand. It made Rei grin big time as she selected the one with five stripes, ranging from shades of orange, white, and shades of pink.

"This looks so cool! Thank you so much! I have to meet with a teacher, but I'll see you around! Maybe I can sit with you at lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure. I'll see you around."

With that, he put the rest of his pins away and headed the way the girl came, glad he had made a nice and respectful friend. The blonde had waved as he walked away, and nearly yelped when she turned around again.

"Bakugo, let's walk to the P.E. Grounds. I would like to discuss things over there."

"Of course, Aizawa Sensei!"

The teacher had overheard the two first years' entire conversation, and had to admit it made him happy and proud. His son had never smiled like before except around cats.

When they got to the grounds, the man noticed his student was fumbling her hands. He made a mental note of that and cleared his throat.

"Yesterday, I noticed you put a tremendous effort into the Quirk Assessment Test, but not once did you actually activate your Quirk. I know you are capable of extraordinary feats, so may I ask why that is?"

The blonde bent her head down and faced her feet in embarrassment.

"I haven't really used my Quirk around so many people before... not in a while, anyways. I got scared I might not be able to control it, and that I might hurt everyone."

Silence followed for a moment, giving the erasure hero time to think his thoughts.

"You have great potential, child. I understand you have your fears, but understand that fear is what makes a hero."

"W-What do you mean?"

The girl faced her favorite hero and teacher, tilting her head to further emphasize her confusion. She was intelligent, but at this moment she had a hard time comprehending Aizawa's words.

"A boy is holding onto the edge of a fragile cliff. It could break at any second. What do you do?"

"... save him?"

"Even though you put yourself in danger?"

"Well, yeah. His chance of survival is zero if I don't do anything. If I try to step in, his chance of survival is at least one percent. I would rather risk my life than let him fall to his certain death."

"So you fear that you could very well die trying to save this boy, and continue to help anyway?"

"...Oh, I understand now."

"I heard you made a great impression on All Might earlier in your Hero Training class."

"You did—?"

"Of course. He told me himself in the teacher's lounge not too long ago. I was even shown a video someone took of you putting on quite a performance. I am impressed, myself."

"R-Really?"

The man noticed how she seemed to be more surprised and made a bigger deal out of him being impressed than compared to when he mentioned the number one hero's thoughts.

"Of course. I'd never seen such a stunt before, and certainly never heard of a first year pulling something like that off on their second day at U.A. High School."

"I-I..."

The girl didn't know what to say, but her face said it all. Her skin turned almost the exact shade of Mina's fur.

"I brought you here so I could ask you to throw a ball, but using your Quirk."

"But—"

"Don't worry, it's not school property. It's alright if you damage it." He took a plain softball out of his pocket and offered it to her.

Rei sighed, relieved to hear she would be able to use Invisible Acid this time. She carefully accepted the sphere of doom, and made a pitcher's stance.

'Breathe in, breathe out, and go Plus Ultra!'

The girl raised her left foot as she prepared to send the ball to sport equipment heaven.

"YEET!"

She launched the damned thing into the afternoon sky, using Midoriya's ball throw as inspiration. She gave it her all in the fingertip that last touched it, making the ball slowly but surely burn from the acidic touch. It traveled far, the dangerous gas having made a small hole at the first instant, and making it even bigger as it went further.

The teacher was certainly surprised at her 'war cry,' but even more so at the score she got.

"How... How did I do this time?"

She was in desperate need of water, but after seeing the distance the ball went, she needed more oxygen in her lungs. She nearly forgot how to breathe.

"1023 meters..."